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Ben Thompson wrote an interesting article "What Is a Tech Company?" on Stratechery [1] recently where he discusses the trademark characteristics of tech compani

Ben Thompson wrote an interesting article "What Is a Tech Company?" on Stratechery [1] recently where he discusses the trademark characteristics of tech companies and makes a convincing argument as to why WeWork is not one: So what about companies like WeWork and Peloton that interact with the real world? Note the centrality of software in all of these characteristics: - Software creates ecosystems. - Software has zero marginal costs. - Software improves over time. - Software offers infinite leverage. - Software enables zero transaction costs. ... - WeWork claims it has a software-created ecosystem that connect companies and employees across locations, but it is difficult to find evidence that this is a driving factor for WeWork’s business. - WeWork pays a huge percentage of its revenue in rent. - WeWork’s offering certainly has the potential to improve over time. - WeWork is limited by the number of locations it builds out. - WeWork requires a consultation for even a one-person rental, and relies heavily on brokers for larger businesses. Frankly, it is hard to see how WeWork is a tech company in any way. [1] https://stratechery.com/2019/what-is-a-tech-company/ https://stratechery.com/2019/what-is-a-tech-company/

0xffff2 7y ago
Please don't use indentation for quotes. The side-scrolling makes it completely impossible to read on mobile, and nearly impossible to read on desktop. >So what about companies like WeWork and Peloton that interact with the real world? Note the centrality of software in all of these characteristics: > >- Software creates ecosystems. >- Software has zero marginal costs. >- Software improves over time. >- Software offers infinite leverage. >- Software enables zero transaction costs. > >... > >- WeWork claims it has a software-created ecosystem that connect companies and employees across locations, but it is difficult to find evidence that this is a driving factor for WeWork’s business. >- WeWork pays a huge percentage of its revenue in rent. >- WeWork’s offering certainly has the potential to improve over time. >- WeWork is limited by the number of locations it builds out. >- WeWork requires a consultation for even a one-person rental, and relies heavily on brokers for larger businesses. > >Frankly, it is hard to see how WeWork is a tech company in any way.
- chinhodado 7y ago
  I can't believe HN doesn't have a solution for this after all this time. It's a tech forum ffs.
  - 0xffff2 7y ago
    Eh, HN does have a solution for quotes; the way I formatted it. There's no technical solution for humans applying the wrong tool to the job. The mono-spaced non-wrapping style works well for code. I find it inexplicable that so many people persist in using it for quotes.

0xffff2 7y ago

Please don't use indentation for quotes. The side-scrolling makes it completely impossible to read on mobile, and nearly impossible to read on desktop. >So what about companies like WeWork and Peloton that interact with the real world? Note the centrality of software in all of these characteristics: > >- Software creates ecosystems. >- Software has zero marginal costs. >- Software improves over time. >- Software offers infinite leverage. >- Software enables zero transaction costs. > >... > >- WeWork claims it has a software-created ecosystem that connect companies and employees across locations, but it is difficult to find evidence that this is a driving factor for WeWork’s business. >- WeWork pays a huge percentage of its revenue in rent. >- WeWork’s offering certainly has the potential to improve over time. >- WeWork is limited by the number of locations it builds out. >- WeWork requires a consultation for even a one-person rental, and relies heavily on brokers for larger businesses. > >Frankly, it is hard to see how WeWork is a tech company in any way.

chinhodado 7y ago
I can't believe HN doesn't have a solution for this after all this time. It's a tech forum ffs.
- 0xffff2 7y ago
  Eh, HN does have a solution for quotes; the way I formatted it. There's no technical solution for humans applying the wrong tool to the job. The mono-spaced non-wrapping style works well for code. I find it inexplicable that so many people persist in using it for quotes.